The U.S. housing market is projected to continue its positive pace in 2018 as recent ficscal policy changes flow through the system. However, affordability for first-time homebuyers will remain challenging as prices rise across the country, mortgage rates inch higher and fewer entry-level homes come onto the market.

The news is awash with the damage wrought by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. But these natural disasters should not have surprised anyone; they are only the latest in a string of worsening weather events that is expected to continue.

In the media and at meeting tables, conversations about communities in need of attention typically center on distressed neighborhoods on the slide down or “hot” markets where gentrification is in danger of pushing out older, original residents. What’s missing from the strategy talks, says Paul Brophy, consultant and chair of the Legacy Cities Partnership, are “middle neighborhoods.”